IIASA at the 1st Meeting of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group

IIASA contributed to the discussions on energy security and critical energy infrastructure security during the meeting of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group (MCG) under the Slovak Chairmanship of MCG this year.

The 1st Meeting of the OSCE MCG, which took place on 19 March 2018 in Vienna, was dedicated to the topic of energy security and co-operation in the Mediterranean region and security of critical energy infrastructure. It provided a platform for the exchange of best practices and capacity building in order to increase protection of critical energy infrastructure, develop and integrate renewable energy, make best use of the potential of energy security digitalization, facilitate public private partnerships and the transfer of know-how in the energy sector.

The Euro-Mediterranean region is currently experiencing energy transition involving a greater share of renewable energy sources but also other technologies such as shale energy sources and nuclear. The changing patters of energy generation also require changes in electricity transmission infrastructure. Therefore, a multi-risk assessment and governance is required to address existing and emerging for electricity infrastructure risks and to involve stakeholders at the national but also at the local governance levels.

IIASA is standing ready to assist OSCE activities in this sphere by providing insights into relevant complex problems through interdisciplinary models and analyses. Dr. Nadejda Komendantova, IIASA Research Scholar, addressed the audience with a presentation on “Resilience of energy infrastructure in the Mediterranean region”.

Among other speakers of the meeting were H.E. Mr. Lukáš Parízek, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and Special Representative for the OSCE Chairmanship; H.E. Mr. Vuk Žugić, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities; H.E. Mr. Alessandro Azzoni, Permanent Representative of Italy to OSCE, OSCE Chairmanship; Dr. Ernesto Bonafé, Energy Charter Secretariat; Dr. Maher Matalka, EDAMA Association, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and others. Sergey Sizov, IIASA Science Diplomacy Officer, was also an invited participant to the event.

A number of representatives of national delegations to the OSCE highly appreciated in their comments the research presented by Dr. Komendantova. Notably, H.E. Mr. Andrej Benedejčič, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the UN, OSCE and other International Organizations in Vienna, underlined the importance of IIASA study on the challenges for critical energy infrastructure security.